Abstract
Forests worldwide are experiencing fragmentation, with especially important consequences for ecosystems bordering urbanized areas. Urban forests are exposed to local warming due to the urban heat island which affects their biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. A key ecosystem function affecting carbon and nutrient cycling in forests is litter decomposition, a process driven by the local microclimate. Thus, our aim was to clarify the impact of the urban heat island on litter decomposition in urban forests. We studied soil microclimate and litter decomposition in six urban forests across Europe and along local gradients from the urban forest edge to the interior. To quantify decomposition independent from local forest composition and litter quality, we used standardized green tea and rooibos tea litterbags. We determined the role of the soil microclimate and other environmental drivers for litter decomposition. Secondly, we assessed effects of edge proximity and landscape context on the soil microclimate. Soil characteristics were only driving green tea and not rooibos tea decomposition. On the contrary, higher soil temperatures resulted in faster rates of litter decomposition for both green and rooibos tea and were related to the proximity to the forest edge and the proportion of built-up area in the landscape. Via structural equation modelling we detected cascading effects of the urban heat island on litter decomposition. Such changes in litter decomposition have the potential to alter the soil food web, nutrient cycling and carbon drawdown in urban forests, and could result in significant interactions between urbanisation and ongoing climate change.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and materials
Data is available online through Figshare: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19771105.v1.
References
Abatzoglou JT, Dobrowski SZ, Parks SA, Hegewisch KC (2018) TerraClimate, a high-resolution global dataset of monthly climate and climatic water balance from 1958–2015. Sci Data 5:170191
Aerts R (1997) Climate, leaf litter chemistry and leaf litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems: a triangular relationship. Oikos 79:439–449
Arnfield AJ (2003) Two decades of urban climate research: a review of turbulence, exchanges of energy and water, and the urban heat island. Int J Climatol 23:1–26
Aulsebrook AE, Jones TM, Mulder RA, Lesku JA (2018) Impacts of artificial light at night on sleep: A review and prospectus. J Exp Zool A Ecol Integr Physiol 329:409–418
Baklanov A, Molina LT, Gauss M (2016) Megacities, air quality and climate. Atmos Environ 126:235–249
Barbati A, Marchetti M, Chirici G, Corona P (2014) European Forest Types and Forest Europe SFM indicators: Tools for monitoring progress on forest biodiversity conservation. For Ecol Manage 321:145–157
Barton K (2019) MuMIn: multi-model inference. R package. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MuMIn
Bates D, Maechler M, Bolker B, Walker S (2015) Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4. J Stat Softw 67:1–48
Baudry O, Charmetant C, Collet C, Ponette Q (2014) Estimating light climate in forest with the convex densiometer: operator effect, geometry and relation to diffuse light. Eur J Forest Res 133:101–110
Berg B, McClaugherty C (2008) Plant Litter: Decomposition. Carbon Sequestration Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, Germany, Humus Formation
Bernhardt-Römermann M, Baeten L, Craven D, De Frenne P, Hédl R, Lenoir J, Bert D, Brunet J, Chudomelová M, Decocq G, Dierschke H, Dirnböck T, Dörfler I, Heinken T, Hermy M, Hommel P, Jaroszewicz B, Keczyński A, Kelly DL, Kirby KJ, Kopecký M, Macek M, Máliš F, Mirtl M, Mitchell FJG, Naaf T, Newman M, Peterken G, Petřík P, Schmidt W, Standovár T, Tóth Z, Calster HV, Verstraeten G, Vladovič J, Vild O, Wulf M, Verheyen K (2015) Drivers of temporal changes in temperate forest plant diversity vary across spatial scales. Glob Change Biol 21:3726–3737
Blood A, Starr G, Escobedo F, Chappelka A, Staudhammer C (2016) How Do Urban Forests Compare? Tree Diversity in Urban and Periurban Forests of the Southeastern US. Forests 7:120
Bocci G (2015) TR8: an R package for easily retrieving plant species traits. Methods Ecol Evol 6:347–350
Bonan GB, Hartman MD, Parton WJ, Wieder WR (2013) Evaluating litter decomposition in earth system models with long-term litterbag experiments: an example using the Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4). Glob Change Biol 19:957–974
CIESIN (2016) Global Urban Heat Island (UHI) Data Set, 2013. In: C. U. Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), editor., Palisades, New York: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)
Chen JQ, Saunders SC, Crow TR, Naiman RJ, Brosofske KD, Mroz GD, Brookshire BL, Franklin JF (1999) Microclimate in forest ecosystem and landscape ecology - Variations in local climate can be used to monitor and compare the effects of different management regimes. Bioscience 49:288–297
Chomel M, Guittonny-Larchevêque M, DesRochers A, Baldy V (2016) Effect of mixing herbaceous litter with tree litters on decomposition and N release in boreal plantations. Plant Soil 398:229–241
citypopulation.de. https://www.citypopulation.de/en/france/cities/. Accessed 19 Jan 2021
Coleman K, Jenkinson DS (1996) RothC-26.3 - A Model for the turnover of carbon in soil. Pages 237–246. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg
Conant RT, Ryan MG, Ågren GI, Birge HE, Davidson EA, Eliasson PE, Evans SE, Frey SD, Giardina CP, Hopkins FM, Hyvönen R, Kirschbaum MUF, Lavallee JM, Leifeld J, Parton WJ, Megan Steinweg J, Wallenstein MD, Martin Wetterstedt JÅ, Bradford MA (2011) Temperature and soil organic matter decomposition rates – synthesis of current knowledge and a way forward. Glob Change Biol 17:3392–3404
Coûteaux M-M, Bottner P, Berg B (1995) Litter decomposition, climate and liter quality. Trends Ecol Evol 10:63–66
Cusack DF (2013) Soil nitrogen levels are linked to decomposition enzyme activities along an urban-remote tropical forest gradient. Soil Biol Biochem 57:192–203
Dale AG, Frank SD (2017) Warming and drought combine to increase pest insect fitness on urban trees. PLoS ONE 12;e0173844
De Frenne P, Cougnon M, Janssens GPJ, Vangansbeke P (2022) Nutrient fertilization by dogs in peri-urban ecosystems. Ecol Solut Evid 3:e12128
De Pauw K, Depauw L, Cousins S, De Lombaerde E, Diekmann M, Frey D et al (2023) Data on litter decomposition experiment in six urban forests. figshare. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19771105.v1 (Dataset)
De Smedt P, Baeten L, Proesmans W, Van de Poel S, Van Keer J, Giffard B, Martin L, Vanhulle R, Brunet J, Cousins SAO, Decocq G, Deconchat M, Diekmann M, Gallet-Moron E, Le Roux V, Liira J, Valdés A, Wulf M, Andrieu E, Hermy M, Bonte D, Verheyen K (2019) Strength of forest edge effects on litter-dwelling macro-arthropods across Europe is influenced by forest age and edge properties. Divers Distrib 25:963–974
de Vries FT, Manning P, Tallowin JRB, Mortimer SR, Pilgrim ES, Harrison KA, Hobbs PJ, Quirk H, Shipley B, Cornelissen JHC, Kattge J, Bardgett RD (2012) Abiotic drivers and plant traits explain landscape-scale patterns in soil microbial communities. Ecol Lett 15:1230–1239
Demuzere M, Bechtel B, Middel A, Mills G (2019) Mapping Europe into local climate zones. PLoS ONE 14:e0214474
Depauw L, Perring MP, Landuyt D, Maes SL, Blondeel H, De Lombaerde E, Brumelis G, Brunet J, Closset-Kopp D, Czerepko J, Decocq G, den Ouden J, Gawrys R, Hardtle W, Hedl R, Heinken T, Heinrichs S, Jaroszewicz B, Kopecky M, Liepina I, Macek M, Malis F, Schmidt W, Smart SM, Ujhazy K, Wulf M, Verheyen K (2020) Light availability and land-use history drive biodiversity and functional changes in forest herb layer communities. J Ecol 108:1411–1425
Eaton E, Caudullo G, Oliveira S, de Rigo D (2016) Quercus robur and Quercus petraea in Europe: distribution, habitat, usage and threats. In: San-Miguel-Ayanz J, de Rigo D, Caudullo G, Houston Durrant T, Mauri A (eds) European Atlas of Forest Tree Species. Publication Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, pp 160–163
Endreny TA (2018) Strategically growing the urban forest will improve our world. Nat Commun 9:1160
Enedino TR, Loures-Ribeiro A, Santos BA (2018) Protecting biodiversity in urbanizing regions: The role of urban reserves for the conservation of Brazilian Atlantic Forest birds. Perspect Ecol Conserv 16:17–23
Enloe HA, Lockaby BG, Zipperer WC, Somers GL (2015) Urbanization effects on leaf litter decomposition, foliar nutrient dynamics and aboveground net primary productivity in the subtropics. Urban Ecosyst 18:1285–1303
Epp Schmidt DJ, Pouyat R, Szlavecz K, Setälä H, Kotze DJ, Yesilonis I, Cilliers S, Hornung E, Dombos M, Yarwood SA (2017) Urbanization erodes ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity and may cause microbial communities to converge. Nat Ecol Evol 1:0123
Estoque RC, Murayama Y, Myint SW (2017) Effects of landscape composition and pattern on land surface temperature: An urban heat island study in the megacities of Southeast Asia. Sci Total Environ 577:349–359
Eurostat (2021) City statistics. Population on 1 January by age groups and sex - cities and greater cities. Dataset. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/urb_cpop1/default/table?lang=en
Fierer N, Strickland MS, Liptzin D, Bradford MA, Cleveland CC (2009) Global patterns in belowground communities. Ecol Lett 12:1238–1249
Fitter AH, Peat HJ (1994) The ecological flora database. J Ecol 82:415–425
Fung TK, Richards DR, Leong RAT, Ghosh S, Tan CWJ, Drillet Z, Leong KL, Edwards PJ (2022) Litter decomposition and infiltration capacities in soils of different tropical urban land covers. Urban Ecosyst 25:21–34
Garvey SM, Templer PH, Pierce EA, Reinmann AB, Hutyra LR (2022) Diverging patterns at the forest edge: Soil respiration dynamics of fragmented forests in urban and rural areas. Glob Change Biol 28:3094–3109
Gehlhausen SM, Schwartz MW, Augspurger CK (2000) Vegetation and microclimatic edge effects in two mixed-mesophytic forest fragments. Plant Ecol 147:21–35
Géron C, Lembrechts JJ, Borgelt J, Lenoir J, Hamdi R, Mahy G, Nijs I, Monty A (2021) Urban alien plants in temperate oceanic regions of Europe originate from warmer native ranges. Biol Invasions 23:1765–1779
Godefroid S, Massant W, Koedam N (2005) Variation in the herb species response and the humus quality across a 200-year chronosequence of beech and oak plantations in Belgium. Ecography 28:223–235
GoogleMaps (2022) Google Maps. Webpage. https://www.google.com/maps. Accessed 9 Feb 2022
Grace JB, Scheiner SM, Schoolmaster DR (2015) Structural equation modeling: building and evaluating causal models. In: Fox GA, Negrete-Yanlelevich S, Sosa VJ (eds) Ecological statistics: from principles to applications. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp 168–199
Graham MH (2003) Confronting multicollinearity in ecological multiple regression. Ecology 84:2809–2815
Hamberg L, Lehvävirta S, Kotze DJ (2009) Forest edge structure as a shaping factor of understorey vegetation in urban forests in Finland. For Ecol Manage 257:712–722
Handa IT, Aerts R, Berendse F, Berg MP, Bruder A, Butenschoen O, Chauvet E, Gessner MO, Jabiol J, Makkonen M, McKie BG, Malmqvist B, Peeters ETHM, Scheu S, Schmid B, van Ruijven J, Vos VCA, Hättenschwiler S (2014) Consequences of biodiversity loss for litter decomposition across biomes. Nature 509:218–221
Heckmann KE, Manley PN, Schlesinger MD (2008) Ecological integrity of remnant montane forests along an urban gradient in the Sierra Nevada. For Ecol Manage 255:2453–2466
Hengl T, Mendes de Jesus J, Heuvelink GBM, Ruiperez Gonzalez M, Kilibarda M, Blagotić A, Shangguan W, Wright MN, Geng X, Bauer-Marschallinger B, Guevara MA, Vargas R, MacMillan RA, Batjes NH, Leenaars JGB, Ribeiro E, Wheeler I, Mantel S, Kempen B (2017) SoilGrids250m: Global gridded soil information based on machine learning. PLoS ONE 12:e0169748
Hill MO, Mountford JO, Roy DB, Bunce RGH (1999) Ellenberg’s indicator values for British plants, vol 2. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, ECOFACT (Technical Annex)
Hobbie SE (2015) Plant species effects on nutrient cycling: revisiting litter feedbacks. Trends Ecol Evol 30:357–363
Honnay O, Verheyen K, Hermy M (2002) Permeability of ancient forest edges for weedy plant species invasion. For Ecol Manage 161:109–122
Hui N, Jumpponen A, Francini G, Kotze DJ, Liu X, Romantschuk M, Strömmer R, Setälä H (2017) Soil microbial communities are shaped by vegetation type and park age in cities under cold climate. Environ Microbiol 19:1281–1295
Jerem P, Mathews F (2021) Trends and knowledge gaps in field research investigating effects of anthropogenic noise. Conserv Biol 35:115–129
Kageyama SAKA, Posavatz NRR, Waterstripe KEWE, Jones SJJJ, Bottomley PJBJ, KermitCromackK J, Cromack, and D. D. M. D. Myrold. (2008) Fungal and bacterial communities across meadow–forest ecotones in the western Cascades of Oregon. Can J for Res 38:1053–1060
Kahan AY, Currie WS, Brown DG (2014) Nitrogen and Carbon Biogeochemistry in Forest Sites along an Indirect Urban-Rural Gradient in Southeastern Michigan. Forests 5:643–665
Keuskamp JA, Dingemans BJJ, Lehtinen T, Sarneel JM, Hefting MM (2013) Tea Bag Index: a novel approach to collect uniform decomposition data across ecosystems. Methods Ecol Evol 4:1070–1075
Kirschbaum MUF (1995) The temperature dependence of soil organic matter decomposition, and the effect of global warming on soil organic C storage. Soil Biol Biochem 27:753–760
Kleerekoper L, van Esch M, Salcedo TB (2012) How to make a city climate-proof, addressing the urban heat island effect. Resour Conserv Recycl 64:30–38
Konijnendijk CC (2003) A decade of urban forestry in Europe. Forest Policy Econ 5:173–186
Kowarik I (2011) Novel urban ecosystems, biodiversity, and conservation. Environ Pollut 159:1974–1983
Lefcheck JS (2016) piecewiseSEM: Piecewise structural equation modelling in r for ecology, evolution, and systematics. Methods Ecol Evol 7:573–579
Leuschner C, Ellenberg H (2017) Vegetation ecology of central Europe. Springer
Li X, Zhou Y, Hejazi M, Wise M, Vernon C, Iyer G, Chen W (2021) Global urban growth between 1870 and 2100 from integrated high resolution mapped data and urban dynamic modeling. Commun Earth Environ 2:201
Liao C, Peng R, Luo Y, Zhou X, Wu X, Fang C, Chen J, Li B (2008) Altered ecosystem carbon and nitrogen cycles by plant invasion: a meta-analysis. New Phytol 177:706–714
Lindsey AA, Newman JE (1956) Use of Official Wather Data in Spring Time: Temperature Analysis of an Indiana Phenological Record. Ecology 37:812–823
Luo X, Li W (2014) Scale effect analysis of the relationships between urban heat island and impact factors: case study in Chongqing. J Appl Remote Sens 8:084995
Mack MC, Schuur EAG, Bret-Harte MS, Shaver GR, Chapin FS (2004) Ecosystem carbon storage in arctic tundra reduced by long-term nutrient fertilization. Nature 431:440–443
Maes SL, Blondeel H, Perring MP, Depauw L, Brūmelis G, Brunet J, Decocq G, den Ouden J, Härdtle W, Hédl R, Heinken T, Heinrichs S, Jaroszewicz B, Kirby K, Kopecký M, Máliš F, Wulf M, Verheyen K (2019) Litter quality, land-use history, and nitrogen deposition effects on topsoil conditions across European temperate deciduous forests. For Ecol Manage 433:405–418
Malmivaara-Lämsä M, Hamberg L, Haapamäki E, Liski J, Kotze DJ, Lehvävirta S, Fritze H (2008) Edge effects and trampling in boreal urban forest fragments – impacts on the soil microbial community. Soil Biol Biochem 40:1612–1621
Matlack GR (1993) Microenvironment variation within and among forest edge sites in the eastern United-States. Biol Cons 66:185–194
Meeussen C, Govaert S, Vanneste T, Bollmann K, Brunet J, Calders K, Cousins SAO, De Pauw K, Diekmann M, Gasperini C, Hedwall P-O, Hylander K, Iacopetti G, Lenoir J, Lindmo S, Orczewska A, Ponette Q, Plue J, Sanczuk P, Selvi F, Spicher F, Verbeeck H, Zellweger F, Verheyen K, Vangansbeke P, De Frenne P (2021a) Microclimatic edge-to-interior gradients of European deciduous forests. Agric for Meteorol 311
Meeussen C, Govaert S, Vanneste T, Haesen S, Van Meerbeek K, Bollmann K, Brunet J, Calders K, Cousins SAO, Diekmann M, Graae BJ, Iacopetti G, Lenoir J, Orczewska A, Ponette Q, Plue J, Selvi F, Spicher F, Sørensen MV, Verbeeck H, Vermeir P, Verheyen K, Vangansbeke P, De Frenne P (2021b) Drivers of carbon stocks in forest edges across Europe. Sci Total Environ 759:143497
Meineke EK, Dunn RR, Sexton JO, Frank SD (2013) Urban Warming Drives Insect Pest Abundance on Street Trees. PLoS ONE 8:e59687
Melillo JM, Steudler PA, Aber JD, Newkirk K, Lux H, Bowles FP, Catricala C, Magill A, Ahrens T, Morrisseau S (2002) Soil Warming and Carbon-Cycle Feedbacks to the Climate System. Science 298:2173–2176
Melillo JM, Frey SD, DeAngelis KM, Werner WJ, Bernard MJ, Bowles FP, Pold G, Knorr MA, Grandy AS (2017) Long-term pattern and magnitude of soil carbon feedback to the climate system in a warming world. Science 358:101–105
Melliger RL, Rusterholz HP, Baur B (2017) Ecosystem functioning in cities: Combined effects of urbanisation and forest size on early-stage leaf litter decomposition of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). Urban For Urban Green 28:88–96
Meyer S, Rusterholz H-P, Salamon J-A, Baur B (2020) Leaf litter decomposition and litter fauna in urban forests: Effect of the degree of urbanisation and forest size. Pedobiologia 78:150609
Mgelwa AS, Kabalika Z, Hu Y-L (2020) Increasing importance of nitrate-nitrogen and organic nitrogen concentrations in bulk and throughfall precipitation across urban forests in southern China. Glob Ecol Conserv 22:e00983
Miller JD, Hutchins M (2017) The impacts of urbanisation and climate change on urban flooding and urban water quality: A review of the evidence concerning the United Kingdom. J Hydrol Reg Stud 12:345–362
Mölder A, Meyer P, Nagel R-V (2019) Integrative management to sustain biodiversity and ecological continuity in Central European temperate oak (Quercus robur, Q. petraea) forests: An overview. For Ecol Manage 437:324–339
Moser-Reischl A, Rahman MA, Pauleit S, Pretzsch H, Rötzer T (2019) Growth patterns and effects of urban micro-climate on two physiologically contrasting urban tree species. Landsc Urban Plan 183:88–99
Nakagawa S, Schielzeth H (2013) A general and simple method for obtaining R2 from generalized linear mixed-effects models. Methods Ecol Evol 4:133–142
NCEI (2021) GHCN (Global Historical Climatology Network)-Daily.in. NOAA (NCEI, editor)
Neter J, Wasserman W, Kutner MH (1990) Applied linear statistical models. Regression, analysis of variance, and experimental design. Irwin, Homewood, USA
Nikula S, Vapaavuori E, Manninen S (2010) Urbanization-related changes in European aspen (Populus tremula L.): leaf traits and litter decomposition. Environ Poll 158(6):2132–2142
Oke TR (1982) The energetic basis of the urban heat island. Q J R Meteorol Soc 108:1–24
Oke TR (2002) Boundary layer climates. Routledge
Pavao-Zuckerman MA, Coleman DC (2005) Decomposition of chestnut oak (Quercus prinus) leaves and nitrogen mineralization in an urban environment. Biol Fertil Soils 41:343–349
Pinheiro J, Bates D, DebRoy S, Sarkar D, Team RC (2021) nlme: linear and nonlinear mixed effect models. R package. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=nlme
Portillo-Estrada M, Pihlatie M, Korhonen JFJ, Levula J, Frumau AKF, Ibrom A, Lembrechts JJ, Morillas L, Horváth L, Jones SK, Niinemets Ü (2016) Climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across European forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experiments. Biogeosciences 13:1621–1633
Pouyat RV, Carreiro MM (2003) Controls on mass loss and nitrogen dynamics of oak leaf litter along an urban-rural land-use gradient. Oecologia 135:288–298
Pouyat RV, McDonnell MJ, Pickett STA (1997) Litter decomposition and nitrogen mineralization in oak stands along an urban-rural land use gradient. Urban Ecosyst 1:117–131
Prescott CE (2005) Do rates of litter decomposition tell us anything we really need to know? For Ecol Manage 220:66–74
Prescott CE (2010) Litter decomposition: what controls it and how can we alter it to sequester more carbon in forest soils? Biogeochemistry 101:133–149
R Development Core Team version 4.1.1 (2020) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/
Rakoto PY, Deilami K, Hurley J, Amati M, Sun Q (2021) Revisiting the cooling effects of urban greening: Planning implications of vegetation types and spatial configuration. Urban For Urban Green 64:127266
Ramirez KS, Craine JM, Fierer N (2012) Consistent effects of nitrogen amendments on soil microbial communities and processes across biomes. Glob Change Biol 18:1918–1927
Referowska-Chodak E (2019) Pressures and Threats to Nature Related to Human Activities in European Urban and Suburban Forests. Forests 10:765
Rega-Brodsky CC, Aronson MFJ, Piana MR, Carpenter E-S, Hahs AK, Herrera-Montes A, Knapp S, Kotze DJ, Lepczyk CA, Moretti M, Salisbury AB, Williams NSG, Jung K, Katti M, MacGregor-Fors I, MacIvor JS, La Sorte FA, Sheel V, Threfall CG, Nilon CH (2022) Urban biodiversity: State of the science and future directions. Urban Ecosyst 25:1083–1096
Remy E, Wuyts K, Boeckx P, Ginzburg S, Gundersen P, Demey A, Van Den Bulcke J, Van Acker J, Verheyen K (2016) Strong gradients in nitrogen and carbon stocks at temperate forest edges. For Ecol Manage 376:45–58
Remy E, Wuyts K, Van Nevel L, De Smedt P, Boeckx P, Verheyen K (2018) Driving Factors Behind Litter Decomposition and Nutrient Release at Temperate Forest Edges. Ecosystems 21:755–771
Remy E, Wuyts K, Verheyen K, Gundersen P, Boeckx P (2018) Altered microbial communities and nitrogen availability in temperate forest edges. Soil Biol Biochem 116:179–188
Richards EH, Norman AG (1931) The biological decomposition of plant materials: Some factors determining the quantity of nitrogen immobilised during decomposition. Biochem J 25:1769–1778
Ries L, Robert J, Fletcher J, Battin J, Sisk TD (2004) Ecological Responses to Habitat Edges: Mechanisms, Models, and Variability Explained. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 35:491–522
Riutta T, Slade EM, Bebber DP, Taylor ME, Malhi Y, Riordan P, Macdonald DW, Morecroft MD (2012) Experimental evidence for the interacting effects of forest edge, moisture and soil macrofauna on leaf litter decomposition. Soil Biol Biochem 49:124–131
Riutta T, Clack H, Crockatt M, Slade EM (2016) Landscape-Scale Implications of the Edge Effect on Soil Fauna Activity in a Temperate Forest. Ecosystems 19:534–544
Rogister J (1978) De ekologische mR-en mN-waarden van de kruidlaag en de humuskwaliteit van bosplantengezelschappen. Proefstation van Waters en Bossen
Santonja M, Fernandez C, Gauquelin T, Baldy V (2015) Climate change effects on litter decomposition: intensive drought leads to a strong decrease of litter mixture interactions. Plant Soil 393:69–82
Seidelmann KN, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Niklaus P (2016) Direct vs. microclimate-driven effects of tree species diversity on litter decomposition in young subtropical forest stands. Plos One 11:e0160569
Seto KC, Fragkias M, Güneralp B, Reilly MK (2011) A meta-analysis of global urban land expansion. PLoS ONE 6:e23777
Shipley B (2009) Confirmatory path analysis in a generalized multilevel context. Ecology 90:363–368
Smoyer KE, Rainham DGC, Hewko JN (2000) Heat-stress-related mortality in five cities in Southern Ontario: 1980–1996. Int J Biometeorol 44:190–197
Şöhretoğlu D, Renda G (2020) The polyphenolic profile of Oak (Quercus) species: a phytochemical and pharmacological overview. Phytochem Rev 19:1379–1426
Sokolov AP, Kicklighter DW, Melillo JM, Felzer BS, Schlosser CA, Cronin TW (2008) Consequences of Considering Carbon-Nitrogen Interactions on the Feedbacks between Climate and the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle. J Clim 21:3776–3796
Standish RJ, Williams PA, Robertson AW, Scott NA, Hedderley DI (2004) Invasion by a Perennial Herb Increases Decomposition Rate and Alters Nutrient Availability in Warm Temperate Lowland Forest Remnants. Biol Invasions 6:71–81
Staude IR, Waller DM, Bernhardt-Römermann M, Bjorkman AD, Brunet J, De Frenne P, Hédl R, Jandt U, Lenoir J, Máliš F, Verheyen K, Wulf M, Pereira HM, Vangansbeke P, Ortmann-Ajkai A, Pielech R, Berki I, Chudomelová M, Decocq G, Dirnböck T, Durak T, Heinken T, Jaroszewicz B, Kopecký M, Macek M, Malicki M, Naaf T, Nagel TA, Petřík P, Reczyńska K, Schei FH, Schmidt W, Standovár T, Świerkosz K, Teleki B, Van Calster H, Vild O, Baeten L (2020) Replacements of small- by large-ranged species scale up to diversity loss in Europe’s temperate forest biome. Nat Ecol Evol 4:802–808
Sui R, Pringle HC, Barnes EM (2019) Soil moisture sensor test with mississippi delta soils. Trans ASABE 62:363–370
Sun Y, Zhao S (2016) Leaf litter decomposition in urban forests: test of the home-field advantage hypothesis. Ann for Sci 73:1063–1072
Swift MJ, Heal OW, Anderson JM, Anderson J (1979) Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. University of California Press
Tresch S, Frey D, Le Bayon RC, Zanetta A, Rasche F, Fliessbach A, Moretti M (2019) Litter decomposition driven by soil fauna, plant diversity and soil management in urban gardens. Sci Total Environ 658:1614–1629
Treseder KK (2008) Nitrogen additions and microbial biomass: a meta-analysis of ecosystem studies. Ecol Lett 11:1111–1120
UN (2019) World urbanization prospects: the 2018 revision (ST/ESA/SER.A/420). United Nations, Departement of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, New York
Vaidelys T, Straigytė L, Manton M (2020) Effects of Seasonality, Tree Species and Urban Green Space on Deciduous Leaf Litter Decomposition in Lithuania. Sustainability 12:2210
van den Bosch M, Ode Sang Å (2017) Urban natural environments as nature-based solutions for improved public health – A systematic review of reviews. Environ Res 158:373–384
van Hove LWA, Jacobs CMJ, Heusinkveld BG, Elbers JA, van Driel BL, Holtslag AAM (2015) Temporal and spatial variability of urban heat island and thermal comfort within the Rotterdam agglomeration. Build Environ 83:91–103
Vaz CMP, Jones S, Meding M, Tuller M (2013) Evaluation of standard calibration functions for eight electromagnetic soil moisture sensors. Vadose Zone J 12:vzj2012-0160
Vaz Monteiro M, Levanič T, Doick KJ (2017) Growth rates of common urban trees in five cities in Great Britain: A dendrochronological evaluation with an emphasis on the impact of climate. Urban For Urban Green 22:11–23
Verheyen K, Baeten L, De Frenne P, Bernhardt-Romermann M, Brunet J, Cornelis J, Decocq G, Dierschke H, Eriksson O, Hedl R, Heinken T, Hermy M, Hommel P, Kirby K, Naaf T, Peterken G, Petrik P, Pfadenhauer J, Van Calster H, Walther GR, Wulf M, Verstraeten G (2012) Driving factors behind the eutrophication signal in understorey plant communities of deciduous temperate forests. J Ecol 100:352–365
Wallace KJ, Laughlin DC, Clarkson BD, Schipper LA (2018) Forest canopy restoration has indirect effects on litter decomposition and no effect on denitrification. Ecosphere 9:e02534
Wang B, Verheyen K, Baeten L, De Smedt P (2021) Herb litter mediates tree litter decomposition and soil fauna composition. Soil Biol Biochem 152:108063
Wang X, Dallimer M, Scott CE, Shi W, Gao J (2021) Tree species richness and diversity predicts the magnitude of urban heat island mitigation effects of greenspaces. Sci Total Environ 770:145211
Wilson SM, Pyatt DG, Malcolm DC, Connolly T (2001) The use of ground vegetation and humus type as indicators of soil nutrient regime for an ecological site classification of British forests. For Ecol Manage 140:101–116
Wolff NH, Zeppetello LRV, Parsons LA, Aggraeni I, Battisti DS, Ebi KL, Game ET, Kroeger T, Masuda YJ, Spector JT (2021) The effect of deforestation and climate change on all-cause mortality and unsafe work conditions due to heat exposure in Berau, Indonesia: a modelling study. Lancet Planet Health 5:e882–e892
Wu Z, Dijkstra P, Koch GW, PeÑUelas J, Hungate BA (2011) Responses of terrestrial ecosystems to temperature and precipitation change: a meta-analysis of experimental manipulation. Glob Change Biol 17:927–942
Wuyts K, De Schrijver A, Staelens J, Verheyen K (2013) Edge Effects on Soil Acidification in Forests on Sandy Soils Under High Deposition Load. Water Air Soil Pollut 224:1545
Xie T, Shan L, Su P (2020) Drought conditions alter litter decomposition and nutrient release of litter types in an agroforestry system of China. Ecol Evol 10:8018–8029
Zanaga D, Van De Kerchove R, De Keersmaecker W, Souverijns N, Brockmann C, Quast R, Wevers J, Grosu A, Paccini A, Vergnaud S, Cartus O, Santoro M, Fritz S, Georgieva I, Lesiv M, Carter S, Herold M, Li L, Tsendbazar N-E, Ramoino F, Arino O (2021) ESA WorldCover 10 m 2020 v100. In: E. S. Agency, editor
Zellweger F, Coomes D, Lenoir J, Depauw L, Maes SL, Wulf M, Kirby KJ, Brunet J, Kopecky M, Malis F, Schmidt W, Heinrichs S, den Ouden J, Jaroszewicz B, Buyse G, Spicher F, Verheyen K, De Frenne P (2019) Seasonal drivers of understorey temperature buffering in temperate deciduous forests across Europe. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 28:1774–1786
Zhang D, Hui D, Luo Y, Zhou G (2008) Rates of litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems: global patterns and controlling factors. J Plant Ecol 1:85–93
Zhang X, Chen X, Liu M, Xu Z, Wei H (2020) Coupled changes in soil organic carbon fractions and microbial community composition in urban and suburban forests. Sci Rep 10:15933
Ziter CD, Pedersen EJ, Kucharik CJ, Turner MG (2019) Scale-dependent interactions between tree canopy cover and impervious surfaces reduce daytime urban heat during summer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116:7575–7580
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Luc Willems, Robbe De Beelde, Kris Ceunen for technical support with the fieldwork and laboratory analyses. The authors thank Eliza Steffen and Michał Lipa for help with the fieldwork, Patrick Huvenne, Frederik Vaes (Belgium), Matthieu Bourre and Séverine Rouet (France) and Grzegorz Skurczak, Djurgårdsförvaltningen (Sweden) for permission to conduct the research in the urban forests, and Tomasz Krupa for help in selecting the suitable study sites in Katowice. Earlier versions of the manuscript benefitted from constructive comments by two reviewers and the subject editor.
Funding
Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) (ASP035-19 and 1221523N), European Research Council (ERC) (FORMICA 757833), FWO scientific network FLEUR, Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-19-CE32-0005-01 and ANR-21-CE32-0012), Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (193645), Bolin Centre for Climate Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
KDP, PDF, PV, LD and KV conceived the ideas and designed methodology; all authors collected data; KDP led the data analyses and the writing of the manuscript in close collaboration with PDF, LD, PV and KV. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical approval
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Additional information
The original online version of this article was revised: The affiliation was updated from "UMR CNRS 7058 “Ecologie et Dynamique des Systemes Anthropises” (EDYSAN), Universite de Picardie Jules Verne, 1 rue des Louvels, 80037 Amiens Cedex, France" to UMR CNRS 7058 “Ecologie et Dynamique des Systemes Anthropises” (EDYSAN), Universitee de Picardie Jules Verne, 1 rue des Louvels, 80037 Amiens Cedex, France.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
De Pauw, K., Depauw, L., Cousins, S.A.O. et al. The urban heat island accelerates litter decomposition through microclimatic warming in temperate urban forests. Urban Ecosyst (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-023-01486-x
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-023-01486-x